Maximum Ride: A New Voice
by JFW1415
Summary: REVISED VERSION OF A NEW VOICE! Maximum Ride gets a new Voice whom is determined to get her to destroy Itex, but she suspects that the Voice isn't so great itself. She struggles to go against the Voice, but it seems to stop for nothing...FAX
1. Chapter 1

**_DISCLAIMER: Maximum Ride belongs to James Patterson._ **

**_CLAIMER: Any new plot ideas and characters in this story are mine, unless otherwise noted._**

* * *

**Chapter One**

We left Dr. Martinez's house about two weeks ago, and it's been a _long_ two weeks. We've had constant Flyboy attacks, flown at least ten hours a day, and struggled to get enough calories in our systems to make up for it. The days were getting shorter, and we were starting to fly well into the night so as to not fall behind in our plan.

What was our plan? Good question.

After leaving my mom's, Fang and I decided not to make any plans. We would just fly north for several days, then south, then west, and so on. We had told the kids that we were looking for something Itex related that Fang had found on his laptop. We had to let Iggy in on our little secret, but the kids bought it, since that's pretty much what we've been doing for years.

Unfortunately, with shorter days comes colder weather. It's extremely hard to fly with winter coats on, and it's even colder in the air than on the ground, which I don't get at all. In the little time I was in school, the science teacher said that hot air _rose_. (Yes, I, Maximum Ride, actually paid attention in class.)

I ended up taking everyone shopping, spending a good hundred dollars on long sleeve shirts, hats, and gloves. Also, since it's even colder at night, we've begun to stay in motels, although we still have to take watch. We were surprised by Flyboys in a motel one night, and since then, we've been extra careful; those things have gotten quiet!

So far, my credit card hasn't been denied, but when it does, we're in trouble. There's no way we can stay with my mom again; it's too dangerous with Flyboys coming at us every two seconds, for them and for us. So for now I'm just grateful to whomever continues paying those credit card bills.

Though all of this, Jeb hasn't spoken up once. I know that I should be extremely happy, since I'm always complaining about how annoying he is, but I'm sort of worried. He's still with Itex, but now he's a spy for us. If they ever find out, he's dead meat. Besides, it would be nice to be warned when Flyboys are coming, so we can at least get prepared; it's very annoying to have to ditch a steaming, greasy burger when you haven't eaten in over eight hours.

"Max?" Gazzy asked, flying up to me and interrupting me from my reminiscing. He chewed on his lip, not sure if he should ask what he came over for. "Can we stay in a fancy hotel for my birthday, instead of just a motel?"

Oh, yeah; while we were at my mom's, Gazzy had checked out a calendar and found out that his chosen birthday was coming up: November seventeenth. He had been asking little things about it twenty four seven, and kept reminding us so no one would forget. Since we had never owned a calendar before, no one in the Flock had ever really celebrated their fake birthdays before. Gazzy had been counting down the days ever since we left, and now that it was only forty-eight hours away, he couldn't keep his mind off of it; I'm pretty sure he even told a Flyboy mid-punch last time they showed up.

"Sure, Gazzy, whatever you want," I told him, quickly disguising my sigh as a yawn. I knew that he was excited, and he had every right to be, but couldn't he give us five minutes without hearing about it? He was becoming worse than Nudge!

"I can't believe I'm almost nine!" he exclaimed, doing a quick flip in the air despite the fact that we had already been flying for over seven hours and everyone else was exhausted. "I can't wait!"

He zoomed over to Iggy, who winced when he heard his friend's wings approaching. I laughed quietly, pitying the blind pyro. Being Gazzy's best friend meant that he heard more about this up-coming birthday than any of us.

"Are we going to stop soon, Max?" Angel asked from beside me, her eyelids drooping to cover her crystal blue eyes. "I'm really tired."

We had only flown for seven hours, but it was already nearly ten. While getting lunch from a street vendor, Nudge had decided to chase some pigeons in the park, and while I tried to stop Nudge, Gazzy found a shirt that he just _had_ to have for his birthday, which in turn made Nudge and Angel want to shop for hours. Iggy had gotten into the shopping too when he found a street vendor whom sold materials that I know I'll find in a bomb someday soon. Overall, we hadn't gotten very far during the day, but looking at my baby's deeply bruised body and pleading eyes, I had to agree.

"Sure, sweetie. I saw a motel a mile or so back; let's swing around and stay there." She nodded sleepily and began to make an arch in the air to turn back, while her brother did half of a flip so that he could fly upside down with us for a while. I laughed at the varying levels of energy in them, and looked over at Fang when I heard him laugh quietly, too.

"What?" I asked, seeing that he hadn't even noticed Gazzy's odd flying. Fang looked over at me, a smirk lighting up his face, his chocolate eyes twinkling in the moonlight. (I'm such a poet, aren't I?)

"You're defenseless against Angel's Bambi Eyes," he said, flying slightly closer to me so I could hear over the roar of the wind. It wasn't really too windy out, but we were now flying against the jet stream, so it was whipping us in the ears.

"So are you!" I said defensively. He laughed, although he knew I was right. If Angel ever joined Itex, they would win in a heartbeat.

After about five minutes of actually having to pump our wings instead of just gliding, we were all grateful to see the large yellow sign proudly proclaiming the words 'Motel Nine.' Six pairs of wings angled down, and five and a half pairs of feet touched the ground behind the motel.

Yes, five and a half. Of course, the half that didn't touch the ground was mine. My black boot landed on a jagged-edged rock, causing me to fall forward, arms flailing in the air, only to be caught by none other than Fang.

All around me, I head snickers of my Flock's poorly contained laughter. My eyes were squeezed shut, trying to prolong the moment I would have to look up at Fang. He was standing behind me, and his arms had wrapped themselves around my waist when he saw me trip. He hadn't moved from this spot, but instead lowered his head to my ear, his lips just brushing against my skin, sending unwanted tingles throughout my entire body. "You're very graceful tonight, aren't you?" he whispered. I blushed furiously, quickly prying his arms off of my waist and stepping several steps away from him, trying to regain my composure. I ignored the chuckles coming from behind me as I brushed imaginary dirt off of my pants and walked forward, too embarrassed to turn around and make sure everyone was following, or look back at Fang.

I quickly reached the front lobby and pushed the door open, the little bell above my head going 'ding.' I stepped inside and paused to hold the door open for the rest of the Flock, quietly telling Iggy and the kids to wait on the couch and not to touch anything. They nodded and filed over to the lobby, but remained standing, wary of the stains that covered the furniture.

"Let's go," I told Fang, quickly running a hand through my hair, trying to make it appear cleaner than it was. He nodded and allowed me to lead the way, staying a foot or so back. I couldn't see him, but I knew he was checking the place out, looking for any exits or suspicious looking people, just as I was.

I approached the front desk, mentally groaning when I saw that it was some teenage guy. I really did _not _need to deal with a jealous Fang.

"Welcome to Motel Nine," he said when Fang and I stopped in front of the desk. "How may I help you?" He used a monotone voice, obviously having said the same thing a million times before. I smiled at him, trying to seem as old as possible, grateful that no teenagers ask for IDs.

"We'd like to book a room, please," Fang said, stepping up beside me and placing an arm around my waist, giving the boy a glare. He looked over at Fang, startled, obviously having been too busy checking me out to notice whom I was with.

The receptionist glanced over at the kids, who were still eying the furniture skeptically, and then back at Fang and I. "One room? For all six of you?"

I nodded. "Yes. Is that a problem?"

"No, just wondering," he said, obviously relieved that Fang and I weren't sharing a room. "Just one night?" I nodded. He leaned over his keyboard, tying in a bunch of random numbers. "That will be sixty-nine ninety-nine," he told us. I fished through my pocket, pulled out my credit card, and reluctantly handed it over to him. He slipped it into a slot in a machine, which quickly beeped and spit it back out. He placed it back on the counter and turned away from us as I grabbed my card and shoved it in my pocket. He studied the bulletin that was full of silver keys for a moment, selecting one that was hanging by a frayed sting. He turned back and held it up for me to take, a grin on his face. Fang snatched his arm out before I got the chance to and took the key from the boy's hand, giving him a cold glare.

"Thank you," Fang replied stiffly. He turned and walked back over to the Flock, his arm still wrapped protectively around me. His being so close was intoxicating, causing me to have trouble breathing.

"Fang? I think you can let go of me now," I whispered, not really wanting him to let go of me, but not wanting the Flock to see us that way. He dropped his arm silently, and my waist suddenly felt very empty.

"You got a room?" Iggy asked as he heard us approach.

"Yep; number fifteen. Let's go." Angel hopped off of the couch he had slumped onto after deciding that she was too tired to be worried about anything that was living in it, and we all headed down the hall. I felt the receptionist's gaze linger on my back, though I had a baggy sweatshirt on (one of Fang's,) so I knew he wasn't looking at any loose feathers. Fang must have noticed it, too, because he let himself fall back beside me, behind the rest of the Flock, and wrapped his arm around my waist again, giving me that intoxicating feeling once more.

"Nine, eleven, thirteen, and…fifteen!" Gazzy exclaimed, practically skipping down the hall in excitement. I couldn't help but laugh at his enthusiasm; it was contagious. Fang left my side since we were no longer in the receptionist's view, and walked over to the door to unlock it. He pushed the door open and allowed us all to file inside before entering himself, closing and locking the door behind him. I groped along the wall before I found the light switch, flicking it on to let a dim yellow light fill the room. There were two queen-sized beds, a couch, and a desk with a wooden chair in front of it. The room was very bland, with yellow-white walls, a tan carpet, and deep red comforters on the beds, with a matching fabric on the couch. It wasn't too fancy, but there weren't mice hiding in the walls (that I knew of,) so I was happy.

"'Kay guys, Angel and Nudge get one bed, Iggy and Gazzy get the other," Fang said, walking over to the desk, plopping his black bag on top of it. The kids all nodded tiredly (including Gazzy, whom had apparently come down from his tired high,) and pulled off their shoes, leaving them in a muddy pile on the ground. They all stacked fists with me before crawling into their beds, knowing better than to bother Fang with stacking fists once he had his beloved laptop out. I walked over to him after turning off the lamps, letting the dim glow of his computer be my light.

"You can sleep on the couch, I'll take the chair," Fang said, gazing intently at the Internet page he had opened up. When I stayed beside him, he minimized it and turned to look up at me. "Yeah?" he asked.

I was about to protest about his sleeping in a little wooden chair, or say something about him not needed to protect me from weak teenage receptionists, but, as if on cue, I became aware of the dull ache in my body from the long flight and decided not to. "Nothing," I told him. "'Night." I stuck my fist out, and he placed his on top of mine, causing my breath to catch in my throat. I quickly pulled my arm back, plastered a fake smile on my face, and walked over to the couch, sinking into the scratchy material, hoping to forget these strange feelings after a good night's sleep. My eyes drifted shut, and I allowed myself to fall asleep, knowing that Fang would take first watch while he checked his blog.

Just as I was about to lose consciousness, I heard a soft voice in my head, but was too tired to figure out who it was. **Sweet dreams, Maximum Ride**, it whispered. In the morning, I had completely forgotten the voice.


	2. Chapter 2

**_DISCLAIMER: Maximum Ride belongs to James Patterson._ **

**_CLAIMER: Any new plot ideas and characters in this story are mine, unless otherwise noted._**

* * *

**Chapter Two**

The next morning I woke to the smell of warm pop-tarts and the sound of typing. I yawned and kept my eyes closed, savoring the last of my dream. It had been a while since I last had a dream; I'd never remember what I dreamt, or have a nightmare.

"We know you're up, Max," Iggy said from the kitchen area. I groaned and turned over, pulling the blanket that had mysteriously appeared during Fang's watch higher over my head. (Hmm…I wonder where that came from?) Fang laughed from his desk, closed his laptop, and walked over to me to pull my warm blanket off.

"Blanket thief," I said, sticking my tongue out at him and crossing my arms over my chest after sitting up. He shook his head and rolled his eyes before walking over to the beds to wake the kids.

"Come grab some grub before the kids steal it all," Iggy said, taking a few apple pop-tarts for himself before coming and collapsing on the couch beside me, his long limbs taking up nearly the entire thing.

I sighed, but gave up my spot on the couch for breakfast when my stomach growled loudly. I grabbed a couple strawberry pop-tarts for myself, and a few more with frosting for Fang. How he could eat frosting in the morning I'll never know.

With Fang's persistent shaking and the smell of food must have gotten to the kids, because before I could even pour myself a glass of water, they ran over and quickly cleaned off the plate of pop-tarts. I laughed as they all wolfed the food down, acting as if they hadn't eaten in months. Fang came over to me to claim his pop-tarts, then leaned against the counter to chew on them slowly.

"Hurry up and eat, guys; we've got a lot of ground to cover today to make up for yesterday!" I announced after swallowing my final bite. The kids groaned, but finished their breakfasts and packed their bags, ready to go in about ten minutes. We all headed outside, spread out wings, and jumped up into the air.

* * *

"Max!" Nudge called out after we had flown east for about five hours. "Can we stop to eat soon? I'm _starved_!" I sighed at how over-dramatic she was being, but relented, telling the kids to keep an eye out for a place to eat. 

"There's one!" Gazzy called out after a few minutes. He pointed down at a diner, about fifty yards ahead of us and in the middle of nowhere. Perfect for a bunch of mutant-freaks on the run.

"All right, let's land!"

We all landed behind the diner, this time without me tripping (thankfully.) We filed inside, being met by a rush of delicious aromas.

There were some ladies dressed in pink poodle-skirts behind the silver counter, and a few people who looked old enough to be grandparents sitting in the booths. Old black-and-white pictures adorned the walls, and sixties music played quietly from a jukebox in the corner.

We all grabbed swivel seats at the silver counter, looking up at the menu on the wall. A middle-aged woman came over to us, with a pad of paper in one hand and a short pencil stub tucked behind her ear, nearly hidden behind her curly blonde hair.

"What can I get you, darlings?" she asked. We all placed our orders, and by the time we had finished ordering, the woman's eyes were as large as plates. She quickly shook it off, though, and turned to give our orders to the chef. Hopefully he had a lot of help back there.

"I can't believe tomorrow's my birthday!" Gazzy said, swirling around on his stool, a smile lighting up his face. "I can't wait!" I laughed at how carefree he could be while on the run.

"You're finally getting older, bro," Iggy said, clapping Gazzy on the back. "Becoming a man." Gazzy beamed at this, sitting up a little taller and sticking his chest out in pride.

"Hey, pretty soon you can start taking watches, too!" Fang told him with a laugh. Gazzy's smile vanished and was replaced by a look of pure horror.

"But…I…Shouldn't Nudge have to start taking watches first?" Gazzy asked, stammering. I laughed when Nudge looked over at us, horrified.

"No! I mean, you guys have a system, if we started taking watches, then you would have to re-work the whole system, and what if we fell asleep on watch? We're not used to staying up at night, and…and…" she said hurriedly, her glace of water half-way between her mouth and the counter.

"Relax, Nudge!" I cut in the second she paused for air. "You guys don't need to start taking watches yet. Nudge will soon, though."

Gazzy sighed at this information, but Nudge looked devastated. She stared down at her drink, before stating melodramatically, "This may be the last drink I ever have after a full night's sleep." She brought the drink to her lips and took a long sip, placed it on the table, and sighed deeply.

"It's not that bad, Nudge. It can actually be fun. At least, the first few minutes the first few times…after that it just becomes repetitive," Fang said, trying unsuccessfully to cheer her up. Nudge just groaned.

"I changed my mind. I don't want to get any older!" Gazzy said, crossing her arms stubbornly. I laughed and reached over to ruffle his blonde hair.

"It's not all bad, bud."

"Sure," he replied, rolling his eyes. He dropped the subject, though, when he saw our waitress approaching with a plate full of steaming waffles in one hand, and pancakes in another (he couldn't make up his mind.) "Food!"

"Here you go," the waitress said, placing the plates in front of him. She turned to face me, trying not to stare as Gazzy dug into his food like a wild animal. "The rest of your, uh, meal, will be our shortly," she said, pausing over the word 'meal.' "Would you like your bill?"

"No thanks, just take this," I told her, handing her my credit card. We had been spending so much lately, I had just begun letting people order anything without accessing the damage. I felt a lot less guilty about spending other people's money when I didn't actually _know_ how much I was spending.

"Thank you, miss," she said, taking the plastic card from my hand and gliding over to the cash register down the counter. I leaned over the counter when she left, looking down at her feet. She was wearing roller skates!

"They're defiantly into the whole 'sixties diner' thing here, aren't they?" I whispered to Fang as another lady with big blonde hair and a white apron zoomed by us. He grinned, but didn't respond. Apparently he'd used up all of his words for the day.

"Order up!" a chef called out from the kitchen area, placing several plates of food on the back counter. Our waitress skated back over, grabbed several of the plates, then did a quick swirl to hand them to us. Everyone grabbed their forks and dug in, not noticing when Iggy paused to listen to something.

"Hey Max?" he called out, in his usual 'I hear something that you guys don't and it's not good,' type voice.

"Yeah?" I asked, sighing. I had almost gotten to eat a descent meal, but no, something bad just _had_ to happen.

"I think I hear something…" he said.

"What kind of something?" Fang asked, swiveling around on his chair to look out the front door.

Iggy closed his eyes for a moment (does that even change anything for him?) before speaking. "Flyboy something."

I dropped my fork at this statement, turning to the younger kids. Iggy and Fang had already jumped up and were heading towards the door as quickly as they could without drawing too much attention. The kids stared at their retreating backs, then to me for direction. "Flock, get outside, quick. Flyboys."

They nodded solemnly, following me out the door into the cold air. I stood on the steps of the diner, frozen, when I saw the mass of Flyboys. There must have been at least one hundred of those furry little robots surrounding the diner.

The door was pushed forward behind us, and our waitress skated out onto the top step, crashing into me as she tried to stop. "You forgot your credit…" she began, looking at me. Her eyes drifted to the parking lot, where the older boys were already immersed in the fight, and her eyes grew wide. "Card…" she finished weakly, holding the plastic in her limp hand.

"Thanks," I said, taking the card from her hand and gently pushing her back into the diner. I shoved it into my jean pocket, then turned to face the mob of Flyboy once more. I snapped my wings out, the early-afternoon sun glistening off of them. I jumped up off of the steps and pumped down with them, beating hard, zooming just out of reach of the Flyboys. Below me, Fang and Iggy were surrounded. They were back to back, taking on as many as they could, but they were losing badly. The kids were slowly working their way to the middle of the circle, punching any Flyboy they came close to. I chose a spot that seemed neglected by the rest of my Flock, and dove.

The Flyboys all jumped apart as I landed among them, then their eyes locked on me, their newest prey. I stood and folded in my wings so they couldn't hurt them, and quickly assumed a fighting position.

As with all fights, it passed in a blur. Flyboys were punching and kicking me from all sides with no mercy, and I tried desperately to block some of the hits. I managed to get a few good punches in, but I suffered from a black eye, a bruised stomach, and a cut lip, all in less than five minutes.

I focused on one Flyboy that was charging straight for me. Using his momentum and my strength, I punched him, hard, right underneath his chin, where the latest model of Flyboy had been weakest.

Nothing happened.

I tried again, this time with a hard kick. My unprotected back was being pelted by punches, but I was too focused on the one in front of me. He punched me in the gut as hard as he could, his metal fist colliding with my bruised abdomen. I gasped as the air left my lungs, bending over slightly.

I held still for a moment, the world around me dizzy and distant. Strong metal arms wrapped around my waist in my moment's hesitation, pulling me into a bone-crushing bear hug.

I quickly breathed in a deep breath of air, forgot the pain searing through my stomach, and began to struggle. I kicked, squirmed, bit, and elbowed it in the gut, but the Flyboy's arms wouldn't budge. They were locked in place around my waist.

"Go for their knees!" I heard Fang call out from somewhere in the middle of the mob. The rest of the Flock immediately did so, swiping the knees of the Flyboys they were fighting. The robots fell to the ground instantly, and didn't get up. The swarm of Flyboys slowly dwindled down, until I could see my Flock fighting through the remaining robots. I tried to lift my leg to kick my captor in the knees, but another Flyboy punched my stomach before I could. I winced as the air left my lungs again, nearly passing out after being brutally attacked in the same spot over and over.

I felt the Flyboy spread his wings, and I desperately tried to call out to Fang, but a cold metal hand clamped down on my mouth, silencing me. Right before the Flyboy took off, Fang did a 360, checking to make sure everyone was accounted for. His eyes locked on mine, but a Flyboy from behind him kicked the back of his knees, causing him to fall to the ground.

I saw Fang get up from his kneeling position, turning around to destroy the Flyboy behind him. The one holding me jumped up into the air, bringing up a whirlwind of dust and blinding me.

"Max!" Fang called out from the ground, obviously searching the air for me. I couldn't see anyone with all the dust surrounding me, and, apparently, neither could he.

Through all of the dust, I saw Fang's black wings, pumping hard, bringing him closer and closer to me. I don't know how he found me, but he did. Maybe the dust had cleared; I'm not sure. My head was spinning from the pain in my abdomen, and I could hardly stay conscious, much less pay attention to what was going on around me.

Fang suddenly appeared, level with the Flyboy and me. His fist was pulled back behind his head, and his jaw was tight. Dirt was caked on his skin, and his black hair was tinted tan from the dust. Sweat was dripping down his face from the effort of the fight, and his chest was heaving up and down. I swear it was just my light-headedness, but I thought he looked like an angel hovering there like that.

"Let her go," he growled through his teeth. He was about to punch it in the head, the only spot he could reach without hurting me, too, when the Flyboy did the unthinkable; it listened to Fang and let me go.

From twenty feet in the air.

Fang muttered a curse under his breath, quickly pulling his wings in and diving after me. More Flyboys had been waiting under us, though, and grabbed Fang as he dove, letting me fall to the ground.

My back hit the ground first, and I screamed from the pain that was ripping through my abdomen. My eyes rested on Fang for the brief moment I was conscious, and I saw him struggling in a Flyboy's grip. Another was approaching him a long needle filled with yellow liquid in his hand. The needle was stuck deep inside one of his flailing arms, and he suddenly went limp.

I finally closed my eyes, giving into the unconsciousness that was trying to claim my body.


	3. Chapter 3

******_DISCLAIMER: Maximum Ride belongs to James Patterson._ **

**_CLAIMER: Any new plot ideas and characters in this story are mine, unless otherwise noted._**

**

* * *

**

**Chapter Three**

As the world slowly came into focus around me, the first thing I saw where the faces of four very worried bird kids, none of whom had noticed that I was now awake.

"Will she be okay?"

"Shouldn't she have woken up by now?"

"What happened to Fang?"

Above me, Iggy struggled to come up with answers that were not complete lies but wouldn't worry the kids, when I decided to make his job slightly harder.

"Yes, Iggy, where _is_ Fang?" I asked, resting my weight on my elbows so I was at least partially sitting. My vision blurred slightly from the sudden movement, but I closed my eyes and breathed in deeply through my nose, and the feeling passed as quickly as it had come.

"Max, you can't move just yet; you fell really hard," Iggy protested, putting a pillow under my head so I could lay back on it and still see them without anyone hovering over me. I glared at him for thinking I was so weak, but when a stab of pain ripped through my stomach from using those muscles to hold myself up, I relented and lay back down.

"I'll be fine," I said, not sure if it were the truth or not. "Where's Fang?" The younger members of my Flock all looked at each other, the floor, or Iggy, anywhere but at me, while Iggy looked down into his clasped hands.

"Where. Is. _Fang_?" I asked, searching the room for the second-in-command as thoroughly as I could without moving my head.

"The Flyboy's got him," Iggy finally said, still refusing to look me in the eyes.

"What?" I exclaimed, jumping up and nearly colliding with Iggy as he put his arm out to stop me. "Why aren't we out there looking for him? They could be doing anything to him right now!"

"Max, you need to calm down; we were just waiting for you to wake up," Iggy said, trying unsuccessfully to push me back down onto my back.

"Well, I'm up now. Let's go," I told him, gritting my teeth against the pain in my stomach as I stood up. Iggy kept his hand around my forearm, standing up with me, steadying me as I swayed slightly on my feet.

"Max, you need to rest a little longer, you had a really bad fall, sit back down," Iggy said, but his voice suddenly seemed far away.

My stomach muscles suddenly clenched tight, and I had to sit down on the corner of the hotel bed so I wouldn't fall from the pain.

"Max? Max, are you okay?" I heard Iggy ask, but as I opened my eyes, his figure seemed blurry, and wouldn't stop swaying.

"Urgh…Hold still, Igs," I told him, closing my eyes again.

"I'm not moving, Max," Iggy told me, gripping both of my arms now, trying to get me to look at him. His hands felt like ice on my skin. "What's wrong?"

"I…stomach…" I told him. My brain felt fuzzy, and I couldn't comprehend what was going on around me. All my mind could focus on was the pain that was searing through my abdomen.

I saw Iggy say something in front of me, but I couldn't hear a thing he was saying; his voice sounded like he was talking to me through a shell (you know, how you can hear oceans through shells? His voice sounded like the ocean in the shell.) From behind him, Nudge grabbed a trashcan, hurriedly handing it to Iggy, who held it in front of me. My stomach muscles clenched again, and I ended up heaving what felt like all that I had eaten in the past week.

* * *

"Hello, Miss Ride, nice to see that you're up," a woman dressed in all white said as she entered my room. She came over to me and sat on the edge of my bed, taking my wrist and placing two fingers on a vein while looking at her watch. 

My head still felt fuzzy, but I could no longer feel the pain in my stomach. All I was aware of was the consistent beeping from beside me, and the strong stench of anti-septic. As the woman sat there counting quietly under her breath, I slowly realized that I was in a hospital, and, of course, panicked.

"What are you doing?" I asked, yanking my wrist from the woman's hand.

"I'm just checking you pulse, sweetie," the woman said, reaching out to take my hand again.

"No!" I told her, holding my arm to my chest, away from her grasp. She sighed, but stood up and walked out of the room. I let out a sigh, thinking I had gotten rid of her, and was about to get up to find the rest of the Flock, when a sharp bolt of pain slashed through my head.

**Maximum Ride, you must stay in bed and recover. You've just had a surgery.**

_What are you talking about Jeb?_ I asked. I didn't want to listen to him, but the pain in my head was enough to keep me in the bed for a few more minutes. _Where's the rest of the Flock?_

**Iggy, Nudge, Gazzy, and Angel are in the waiting room, all worried about you. Fang is currently MIA.**

I sighed as the memories of what happened with the Flyboys came flooding back to me. _All right, any chance that you'll tell me what _happened_ to me?_

**You were suffering from internal bleeding from all of those hits to the stomach.**

I was going to ask Jeb more about this, but the nurse lady came back in, a syringe in hand, and I decided to stay quiet.

"Now, don't fuss, this is for your own good, it's just a weak sedative, you'll still be conscious," she told me as she raised the sleeve of my paper dress to clean off my arm. "If you want to see the rest of your family, you'll have to let me do this. We can't permit you to have any visitors if we believe you might be a danger to them or yourself." I glared at the woman, but I wanted to talk to Iggy to get some more answers, so I relented as she slid the needle into my arm. (All right, the fact that my head still killed didn't hurt, either.)

"How come my stomach doesn't hurt if I had internal bleeding?" I asked the woman.

"We've given you plenty of pain medications," she said, wiping my arm off with a cotton ball coated in a cool liquid. She paused and looked up from my arm into my face, studying me for a moment.

"I never told you that you had internal bleeding…" she began. Being the great liar that I am, I quickly came up with an answer.

"Another nurse did when she came in to check on me," I lied. I knew that she would believe me; there were hundreds of nurses checking on Fang every five seconds when he was in the hospital; there was no way that they knew who else had checked on each patient.

"Oh, right…" she said, still not fully believing me. "Well, the sedative seems to be working. Would you like me to go get your…family?" she asked.

"Please," I replied through gritted teeth, flashing her a fake smile. She nodded and stood up, turning to leave the room.

"Max?" Angel's timid voice called out as she stood in the doorway a minute or so later, looking dwarfed in front of the older members of the Flock.

"It's all right, sweetie; I'm fine," I told her. She smiled and ran over to the bed, jumping up onto it with me and crawling into my arms.

"We were so worried about you, Max! You got all dizzy and had to sit down, then told us that your stomach was bothering you, and Iggy told me to get a trashcan, but I didn't see what good that would do. I didn't think you would actually throw up, Max; none of us ever have before. And you were throwing up blood! Is that normal? Are you going to die?" Iggy placed his hand over Nudge's mouth, silencing her and saving me from the ramble of a lifetime.

"No, Nudge, it's not normal, but I'm fine. I would like to talk to Iggy in private for a minute, though. Can you bring Gazzy and Angel down to the cafeteria to get something to eat? Use my credit card…speaking of, where is it? I put it in my jeans pocket…" I said, looking around the room for my clothes.

"I've got them, Max," Iggy said, taking off his backpack and rummaging through it, pulling out my jeans, and the credit card out of those. He handed it to Nudge, who gladly took it, a huge grin on her face.

"No longer than fifteen minutes!" I called out to the kids' retreating backs, but they were already all the way down the hall. I laughed at how eager they were to get out on their own, but quickly put on a solemn face as I turned to Iggy.

"Let's get this over with," Iggy said, grimacing. He slumped down onto a chair beside my bed (I swear, I'll _never_ know how that boy finds things,) running a hand through his choppy hair.

"What happened to me?" I asked, turning to face the blind pyro.

"Same thing Nudge said; you were puking up blood. I read, well, Gazzy read it to me, some stuff about medical aid while we were at Dr. M's, and it sounded like internal bleeding, so I brought you here."

"So? I would have been fine; we didn't need to risk our lives over this."

"Yes, we did. Even if it weren't internal bleeding, puking up blood means you need to get to a hospital, and pronto."

"What did they say when they saw my wings?"

"I offered your doctor and the three nurses he _insisted_ that he would need to take care of you and help with the surgery a…little token of my appreciation, if they kept quiet…" Iggy said, looking away from me as he spoke.

"You _bribed_ them?" I asked, incredulous.

"That, and promised to blow up their hospital and homes into a million little pieces if they didn't comply. They were _very_ impressed with my bombs."

I sighed; Iggy had done a terrible thing, but if it meant that no one would find out about our wings, I couldn't punish him. "Fine. How long do I have to stay here?"

"I think that's up to me," a man said as he entered the room, looking down at his clipboard. He looked up at me, flipping the paper over. "Sorry to intrude, Miss Ride. I'm Dr. Smith, the doctor who performed you operation."

I looked up at the man who had _cut me open_ and glared. "So, doc, when can I go home?"

"Let me just do a routine examination, and then I can let you know. We have to see how your body reacted. If it rejected anything we put in you, or isn't healing well, you will be here for at least another week."

"You think that there will be complications?" Iggy asked with worry in him voice.

"I'm not sure," Dr. Smith replied, walking over to me and helping me sit up. I nearly shrugged him off, but my head was a little foggy from all of the drugs in my system, so I reluctantly accepted his help. "With your…_special_ qualities, there was no way I could predict the outcome of this operation. Deep breath." It took me a moment to understand what he meant, but then I noticed the circle of cool metal on my back, and I breathed in deeply.

"This is odd…" the doctor mused, furrowing his brow.

"Our heartbeats are much faster than the average human's," Iggy offered, understanding the doctor's confusion.

"Oh, I see. May I also examine you, so I have another, what is it you said, human-avian to compare her to?" Iggy looked hesitant, but he knew that if he didn't, the doctor could diagnose me incorrectly, so he agreed.

"Fine."

After several minutes of poking and prodding, the doctor took off his gloves, threw them in the trash, and walked back to me, seeming a lot less formal than he had before.

"Well, Miss Ride, it seems that everything is in order, or at least as much as it can be after having internal bleeding. I'd say you'll be able to get out of here in about three days."

I rolled my eyes at this. I'd be out of there much sooner with my quick healing. Besides, I couldn't leave Fang with Itex for that long.

"Thank you doctor," Iggy said, shaking the man's hand while politely pushing him out of the room. "We'll discuss your payment later." The man's serious face broke into a grin at this.

"Of course, sir," he said, stepping out of the room. "When Miss Ride here is feeling a little better." He turned and walked down the hall, his white lab coat swinging around his jean clad legs.

"Sorry about all this, Max," Iggy said, coming back over to my bedside.

"Mm-hmm," I relied, becoming sort of drowsy. "Shouldn't the kids be back by now?" Just as I said this, I heard Nudge's loud laughter fill the halls. "Never mind."

"Just get some sleep, Max," Iggy said, reaching down and brushing some of my hair out of my half-closed eyes. "The sooner you get better, the sooner we can save Fang." I nodded, allowing myself to fall asleep as I heard the kids enter the room, with Iggy shushing them.


	4. Chapter 4

******_DISCLAIMER: Maximum Ride belongs to James Patterson._ **

**_CLAIMER: Any new plot ideas and characters in this story are mine, unless otherwise noted._**

* * *

Chapter Four 

The next morning I was awoken to the feeling of cool air rushing over my arms as a stout nurse peeled the sheets off of them. The drugs were still coursing through me, so I didn't mind too much as she checked my pulse and blood pressure. I heard Iggy's breathing grow heavy beside me as the woman drew blood, and I resisted the urge to laugh at him while the nurse was in the room.

"All right there, Iggy?" I asked with a smirk once the nurse had left.

He rolled his eyes at me. "Hey, you get to be all drugged up while they do that. I, on the other hand, am completely conscious and forced to watch this random lady poke a needle into my best friend."

"You weren't exactly _forced_ to watch," I began, but Iggy just gestured to his hand, which I held in an iron grip. "Oops. Sorry," I said, letting go of his hand and watching as color seeped back into his fingers.

"Don't worry about it," he said, leaning back in his chair and wringing out his hands. "What do you want for breakfast? I want to get something before the kids wake up, keep them quiet for a bit…" he said, leaning down to rummage through his bag on the floor beside him.

"I'm not too hungry," I told him, laying my head back down on the pillow as a wave of pain washed over my head. "Can you just get me some water?"

Iggy stopped searching through his bag and sat up, placing his cold hand on my forehead. "Are you feeling okay?" he asked, his pale brow furrowed.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Just ask that nurse," I said, faking a smile to calm him down. He pulled his hand back, but still looked as me unbelieving.

"Max," he warned, but I cut him off.

"Really, Igs, I'm fine. I'd tell you if there was something up, okay?" He hovered by my bed for another minute, then finally relented.

"Fine," he said, reaching down and looking through his bag again, pulling out my credit card. "Guess breakfast is on you," he said with a grin, holding up the plastic.

"Guess so," I replied with a smile. Iggy turned and walked through the door with scary accuracy, leaving me alone with the sound of the kids' snoring on the small couch/bed against the wall.

**Forgetting someone, Maximum?**

And with the ever-annoying voice,

**Close enough.**

_So, any chance you'll be sympathetic to the fact that I'm stuck in a hospital and leave me alone?_

**I doubt it.**

I groaned at this, clenching my hands into fists around my hair. A nurse passing by looked in on me strangely, but luckily did not enter.

_Well, will you at least explain why I am in the hospital? Aren't I supposed to have a stronger immunity to injuries than this?_

"Food time!" Iggy called out as he re-entered the room, his arms laden with trays of delicious smelling foods. The Voice seemed to retreat from my mind at Iggy's entrance, but I felt it lingering at the back of my mind. The younger kids woke up immediately at the smell of food and bombarded Iggy, but I simply turned my head away, my stomach doing flips inside of me.

"Do you want a muffin, Max?" Angel asked, walking over to me, one muffin half eaten and another extended in offering. "They're chocolate-chip!"

"No thanks, Ange," I said, quickly placing blocks on my mind so she wouldn't see the pain I really was in.

**Now, now, Maximum, it isn't good to lie to the children,** the Voice said. I was about to send a witty remark back to him, when I felt the shields I had just put up torn back down.

**There, much better. No more secrets from Angel, right?** The Voice's words were laced with sarcasm.

I sent the Voice a mental glare (or, at least, tried to. I'm not sure how well that worked…) and went about placing my walls back up, when I felt a foreign presence in my mind, stopping me from doing so.

**You have no idea what I can do, Maximum.** At this, the world began to close in around me, the beeps from the machine beside me came faster and closer together, until my eyes drifted shut, closing out the world around me, full of hurrying forms in white.

* * *

"She wakes!" a deep voice called out as I opened my eyes. I blinked a few times to focus, then looked to my left, where Iggy was sitting, a smirk on his face as he looked down at me.

"'Ello, Igs," I said, rubbing my eyes with the palms of my hands. "What happened?"

"The doctor thinks you had a reaction to one of the medications," Iggy said, leaning back in his chair and yawning. "You were out cold all day." I looked to the window behind the couch the kids were sleeping on. The curtains were closed tightly, but I could see the faint outline of the moon through the material.

"Great," I muttered, running a hand through my hair. "So, when can I get out of here?"

"The doctor wants to keep you for another few days, but I convinced him to let you out tomorrow morning, provided that you pass all of their tests," Iggy said.

I nodded, knowing that Iggy was only trying to keep an eye out for me. "Well, can I at least get up, stretch my legs a bit?" I asked him, trying to look innocent. (I know he can't see it, but he has an uncanny ability to tell when you're innocent and when you're not.)

Iggy grinned down at me. "Sure, as long as you're _only_ stretching your legs. You're not up to flying yet." I rolled my eyes at him but agreed; my legs were beginning to ache from being held still for so long.

"Don't get into any trouble out there!" Iggy called after me. I paused in the doorframe, the stupid cotton nightdress (they'd _finally_ given me something that wasn't paper) swaying around my legs as I turned to face him.

"Since when do I get in trouble?"


	5. Chapter 5

You guys ready to kill me yet? :P Well, more reviewsfaster posts, so it's really up to you guys. (Wow; it's been over a month! Oops...)

Also, can you review an let me know if you think I use a beta-reader or not? I'm just curious as to what you guys think.

And sorry it's so short. It's better than nothing though, right?

**PM me if you want me to beta-read for you! I love it, and have several writers I beta read for at the moment: meepisms, bellaness, and youngraven. Apparently I'm pretty good (yay!) so feel free to ask; it's SO much fun! (And I'm MUCH quicker with beta-reading than with writing, heehee.)**

On with the chapter!

**_DISCLAIMER: Maximum Ride belongs to James Patterson._ **

_**CLAIMER: Any new plot ideas and characters in this story are mine, unless otherwise noted.**_

* * *

**Chapter Five**

The halls were silent as I crept down them, the tiles cool beneath my feet. I felt the eyes of those too sick to sleep train on me as I passed open doorways, but no voices called out to stop me.

There was a soft bang behind me, like someone walking into something. Glass fell to the floor, shattering. I jumped around, my eyes darting around the dark hall. My hands clenched into fists at my side, and my left one protested in pain, reminding me that I had only just gotten my IV taken out.

There was no one there.

"Relax, Max, you're just being paranoid," I muttered under my breath, loosening my fists. It was probably just someone in one of the rooms trying to get a glass of water, too weak to hold it.

Even so, I knew I'd feel better if I could hear Fang's steady breathing beside me.

My legs shook beneath me after every step I took, and my breathing came out shallow. I knew I shouldn't be walking – they had just taken my IV out one hour previous – but I couldn't help myself. Being cooped up like that, not being able to move, being prodded by people in white coats, it all brought back the memories of the School I kept hidden in the back of my mind.

I was suddenly aware of eyes on the back of my neck, but there were no longer open doors around. The pre-battle adrenaline began to trickle into my veins. I listened closely, straining to hear footsteps, but I heard none.

I fingers twitched at my sides, but I resisted the urge to clench them into fists. I continued walking down the hall, counting my steps, trying to appear normal.

Thirteen steps…

I kept walking, counting higher and higher. The lights were just dim enough to give my follower the cape of shadow.

Twenty-eight steps…

I turned around a corner, then stopped dead in my tracks. I held my breath, waiting.

A footstep echoed behind me.

I immediately turned around, assuming fighting position, my hands ready in front of my face. A figure stepped out of the shadows.

"Relax, Max, it's just me."

I sighed deeply. "Jeez, Igs; don't do that to me." He grinned sheepishly, walking up to me, not bothering to keep his footsteps quiet any longer.

"Sorry, Max."

"What are you doing out here anyway? Shouldn't you be watching the kids?" Iggy rolled his eyes.

"Nudge is almost thirteen; she _is_ capable of watching Angel and Gazzy. Besides, someone had to keep an eye on you."

"Hey!" I said, pushing him softly so he'd know I was kidding around. "I'm not a baby."

"No, but you are desperate to get Fang back, and I didn't want you to make any rash decisions, like flying into the night when you're still weak," Iggy said, his voice serious.

"I'm not that weak, Iggy," I began, but he cut me off with a look. "Fine; maybe I am. But I'm not going off to find Fang just yet. I just needed some air."

Iggy nodded. "So, you find anything interesting?" he asked.

"Not really. This place is-" I stopped short when I noticed that Iggy had tuned me out, instead focusing on the hall behind me. "What is it?"

"Shh; I hear something…" he said, his brow furrowing in concentration. I kept quiet, listening intently.

"What is it?" I asked after a moment. He shook his head, and I finally heard it. Footsteps were coming down the adjoining hall, slowly becoming louder and louder.

"In here," I whispered, pulling Iggy into an empty room I had noticed earlier. He followed, pulling the door behind him, only leaving it open an inch. The footsteps became louder and louder until we could hear the voices.

"About how big were they, Jack?" a voice asked.

"I don't know; she never opened them. I'd guess around fifteen feet, though. They'd have to be pretty big to carry a human," the second voice, whom I'm assuming was Jack, responded.

"What did they look like?"

"A hawk's, I guess. There were many different colors of brown, and some white mixed in. The down feathers were so soft; I was able to brush against them while checking her respiration." They continued walking, their footsteps becoming quieter as they passed us.

I sucked in a breath; apparently my doctor hadn't kept his part of the deal. I turned to Iggy, who was staring back at me, waiting for instruction. "Let's get out of here."


End file.
